Cotton&#39;s patent and other straight bar knitting machine



Aug. 14, 1945. w. A. COOPER 2,382,544

COTTONS PATENT AND OTHER STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 10, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l FIGI.

Aug. 14, 1945. w. A. COOPER COTTONS PATENT AND OTHER STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 10, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 14, 1945 COTTONS PATENT AND OTHER STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINE William Arthur Cooper, Loughborough, England. assignor to William Cotton Limited, Lough!- borongh; England Application February 10. 1945, Serial No. 511,104 In Great mum mm;- 1, 194:

'4 Claims. (01. es-se) This invention concerns Cottons Patent and other straight bar knitting machines and particularly those equipped with automatic welt-turning apparatus. During the turning of the welt, a welt rod is inserted and take-up straps are connected to the ends of the rod by hooks. These straps extend to a beam roller that is rotated (usually by a weight) so that the straps,are wound on to it and the fabric being knitted is drawn away from the needles. As the straps wind on. they naturally build up the effective diameter of the roller, so that equal angular movement of the latter tends to cause a progressively greater linear draw-ofl movement of the straps. An even greater irregularity is produced when the welt rod itself passes on to the beam roller. In order that the straps may be unwound, they are connected by cords or other flexible connections to another roller that is driven from the beam roller and at the appropriate time reverse rotation is imparted to the beam roller so that the cords are wound on to the second roller and the straps wound oi! the beam roller and the hooks are thereby re-positioned to receive a welt red during the production of the next stocking. It will therefore be appreciated that during the production of a stocking there is a tendency for the linear rate at which the straps are wound on to the beam roller to differ from the linear rate at which the cords are unwound from the second roller.

According to this invention, in a Cotton's Pateat or other straight bar knitting machine having take-up straps or equivalent flexible connecting means for attachment to a welt rod or other device for drawing the fabric away from the needles, a rotary member (e. g. a beam roller) to which the straps are attached and which is rotatable in one direction to wind up the straps and to draw 011 the fabric and in the reverse direction to unwind the straps '(e. g. so that they may be attached to the welt rod or the like), a second rotary member coupled to the first one, and flexible connections extending from said straps to the second rotary member and arranged to be wound on to the latter in said reverse rotation so as to withdraw the straps from the flrst member and to be unwound from it during the fabric take-up rotation of the flrst member, there is provided a spring coupling connecting the two rotary members together.

The foregoing and other features of the invention set out in the appended claims are incorporated in the construction which will now be dethe beam roller.

scribed with reference to the accompanying drawings in which 5 Figure 1 is a cross sectional view through the relevant parts .of a Cotton's Patent knitting machine;

Figure 2 is a further cross-sectional view showing additional details, while Figure 3 is a plan, partly in section, showing the spring coupling and associated parts.

Figure 1 illustrates the application of the inventlon to Cottons Patent knitting machine having automatic welt-turning apparatus whereof the welt bar is indicated at it, and having needles Ii, needle bar l2, sinker head It, sinkers l4, beam roller shaft ii, and table ll. The said shaft is blessed in the take-up direction by means indicated diagrammatically at ll. A sprocket I! on the'beam roller shaft is connected by an endless chain it to a sprocket 2| freely mounted on a second horizontal shaft 2! at the rear of it. This sprocket 20 is coupled to its shaft 2| by a springcoupling indicated generally at 22. Fixed to this second shaft 2!, alongside sprocket 20, there is a boss 23 having a laterally-projecting pin 24 that projects into an arcuate slot 2| in the said sprocket 20. A tension spring 2| extends from said pin 24 inside an annular groove 21 in the said sprocket, to an anchorage 2| such as another pin on the latter. Cords I! extend, from the ends of the usual take-up straps it (which are attached to the beam roller II and are provided with hooks 32 for the welt rod ll) over guide rollers 84 to rollers II on the second shaft 2|, and the direction of the spring 28 is such that when take-up rotation is imparted to the beam roller ii the necessary cord-unwinding motion is imparted from the second-mentioned sprocket 20 to the second shaft it through the spring tension. This permits the boss 28 (under the pull of the cords) gradually tovovertake the second sprocket 2. until the pin 24 reaches the front end (the right hand end in Figure 2) of the slot 2| to drive "so1id so that the linear rate at which the cords 2O unwind is the same as that I at which the straps and fabric are wound on to Reverse rotation is imparted to the beam roller by, for example, the hand wheel indicated at I. and is communicated to the shaft Ii by the said front end of the slot 2| pressing against pin 24. Preferably the chain-and-sprocket gearing is a reduction gearing, the sprocket II on the beam roller shaft having, for example. 23 teeth and th; second sprocket 20 having II teeth.

claim:

1. In a Cotton's Patent or other straight bar knitting machine having take-up straps or equivalent fiexible connecting means for attachment to a device for drawing the fabric away from the needles.v a rotary member to which the straps are attached and which is rotatable in one direction to wind up the straps and to draw 0!! the fabric and-in the reverse direction to unwind the straps (e. g. so that they may be attached to the weft rod or the like) a second rotary member coupled to the first one, and fiexible connections extending from said straps to the second rotary member and arranged to be wound onto the latter in said reverse rotation so as to withdraw the straps from the first member and to be unwound ll means the coupling arranged to provide a solid drive after a predetermined yield.

W. A. COOPER. 

